Article 3, paragraph 2 of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany states: "Men and women have equal rights. [...]". Nevertheless, in 1997, over 21% of members of the Bundestag voted against the reform of Section 177 of the Criminal Code (StGB). Among other things, it addressed the issue of recognizing rape within marriage as a criminal offense for all genders.

Section 218 StGB regulates the handling of abortions: they are always illegal, but only punishable under certain circumstances. A woman who is the victim of rape is therefore acting illegally if she aborts a resulting pregnancy, but she will not be prosecuted. How gracious. Women are therefore not allowed to make free decisions about their own bodies.

In the case of lethal violence against women, there is not even a corresponding paragraph. In Germany alone, a woman is killed by her ex-partner every other day. The news refers to these as “cruel family dramas,” while police crime statistics refer to them as domestic violence. But these are cases of misogyny and the exercise of power. The correct term for this is femicide. However, this “hatred of women resulting in death” is not a separate criminal offense under the law.

In the course of her research, the student came across several cases of unequal treatment of women (LGBTQAI+¹ people are not even included in most statistics). This topic is so extensive that it is impossible to cover it completely in one semester. Therefore, she has omitted some of the results of my research here. But this is a first attempt to address the issue.